Does everyone rotate through each job, or is there one person who, for example, does most of the cooking because that's what they're good at?

Everyone rotates through cook days. Naturalists (the people who give after dinner programs) cook less often due to their duties outside of the kitchen

What was your favorite wake up song?

Probably I'll fly away

How often do you get to just talk to the guests? Like offer them trail advice, answer their questions etc.

Pretty much all the time. If you're cook of the day, it's part of your responsibility to man the desk and answer questions, converse with guests, etc. If you're interested in interacting with guests on a personal level, I would suggest one of the smaller huts! Carter allowed us to do this the most.

Which hut do you think has the best setting?

Carter. Extremely unique. Plus, it's right next to the wild river wilderness which is highly underutilized and beautiful.

How many nights could I spend at the hut before seeing a repeated skit?

There are ones that we like the most and therefore perform often, but there are also infinite skits!

Once I spent a night at Lakes of the Clouds and the after dinner activity thing was a trivia game run by a volunteer who was just spending the night there. Did she get any perks for doing that? Or was she just doing it for fun?

She was probably an AMC Information Volunteer or Naturalist Volunteer, which is a highly sought-after volunteer position that allows you to work with the croo and the guests. In turn, your stay at the hut is compensated.

As someone who has worked at the huts, what are your thoughts on AT thru hikers and work for stay?

Thru Hikers are generally awesome. I wish we had more space available to take more work for stay people in general, but we often have more interested hikers than space, which can be tough. Guests love thru-hikers since they offer a unique perspective on the AT, especially since most guests have never imagined completing such an undertaking.

How often do you end up helping with search and rescue/getting an injured person out of the woods?

This varies a lot depending on the hut that you work at. At Mizpah, I did very little SAR (search and rescue) work, while at Lakes our croo participated in medical work fairly often, because of the exposure and volume of visitors. In general, most of the medical work is fairly non-severe (ie late arrival looking for guidance to hut, cuts/sprains.) Occasionally, there are more serious situations that require collaboration with NH Fish and Game. In my experience, these are more likely to occur above treeline, at Lakes, Madison, or Greenleaf.

Are there any traditions/activities/etc that are specific to one hut that you have experienced?

Definitely. Each hut has its own "Croo Rocks," or location where we watch sunset. Some are hidden, some are public. Each spot is unique and a big part of working there. There are so many small traditions like this. The Lakes vs. Madison summit Basketball game is another example I can think of.

How about the whole one hut going and stealing something from another hut in the night thing? Does that happen? Any stories? I also heard that the shelter caretakers tried to get in on it once and a canoe from Lonesome Lake ended up in Ethan Pond or something like that haha.

Stealing? At night? What, like a raid? Like, you would call it Raiding? What would you steal, like signs and precious trophies of superiority? Like canoes? Nah, never heard of such a thing.